Last week, I had my summer clay students create clay rattles. We began by making two small pinch pots. Then students made about 8 tiny balls of clay. Each ball of clay gets a small piece of newspaper wrapped around it. (This will keep the clay balls from sticking together when firing). These tiny balls with newspaper were put inside one of the pinch pots. The second pinch pot was put on top and attached. After this was assembled, students were free to decorate their rattles. Some students made their rattles look like animals. Before firing, put a small hole in the rattle. This will keep it from blowing up in the kiln.
When these came out of the kiln, students were extremely excited to shake their rattles. They were fascinated to find out that each rattle had a different sound depending on the size of the balls inside.
Last week, I had my summer clay students create clay rattles. We began by making two small pinch pots. Then students made about 8 tiny balls of clay. Each ball of clay gets a small piece of newspaper wrapped around it. (This will keep the clay balls from sticking together when firing). These tiny balls with newspaper were put inside one of the pinch pots. The second pinch pot was put on top and attached. After this was assembled, students were free to decorate their rattles. Some students made their rattles look like animals. Before firing, put a small hole in the rattle. This will keep it from blowing up in the kiln.
When these came out of the kiln, students were extremely excited to shake their rattles. They were fascinated to find out that each rattle had a different sound depending on the size of the balls inside.
Thanks for the newspaper wrapping tip. Looks like they had fun!
ReplyDeleteBefore you begin a sculpture or pot, you must wedge the clay in order to rid the clay of any air bubbles that could explode in the kiln.
ReplyDelete